Ministers agree to end fish discards

Fisheries ministers have agreed to ban the practice of discarding fish, after tense talks in Brussels that lasted until 5am on Wednesday (27 February). But in a compromise with reluctant southern member states, the ban is scheduled to begin later than proposed by the European Commission and MEPs, and some discards would still be allowed and counted as ‘accidental’ by-catches.

Discarding, in which unwanted or unusable fish are dumped overboard after being caught, can lower fish populations to unsustainable levels. The practice has increased because of the Common Fisheries Policy’s quota system, with fishermen dumping fish that would take them over their quota. The Commission estimates that 23% of catches are now discarded, but campaigners say the figure is as high as 40%.

Under the agreement, discards would be phased out between 2014 and 2017. A ban on discarding pelagic (surface) fish will come into effect first – by 2015. Discards of pelagic fish are easier to avoid than those of fish living in deeper waters. Discards of demersal stocks (which live and feed on or near the bottom of the sea) would be banned from January 2016. Stocks in the Mediterranean would come under a discard ban from January 2017.

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s agriculture and fisheries minister, praised the hard-fought compromise as “a historic milestone”. But MEPs decried it as full of loopholes and a major retreat from the ambitious position agreed by the European Parliament earlier this month.

Despite northern member states’ desire for an early end-date with few loopholes, southern member states succeeded in inserting a provision that would continue to allow up to 7% of catches to be discarded after 2017. Sweden refused to endorse the final text, but the agreement was adopted by qualified majority.

The Parliament’s position is that discards of all stocks should be banned by 2015, and it has co-decision rights over the CFP for the first time, as a result of powers introduced by the Lisbon treaty. Isabella Lövin, a Swedish Green MEP, said the Parliament will resist the attempt to introduce flexibility.

“EU governments have agreed a depressingly unambitious position, after bowing to pressure from countries like France and Spain,” she said. “A proposed ban on the senseless, wasteful practice of fish discards would be rendered effectively meaningless by the loopholes proposed by fisheries ministers.”

But fishermen welcomed the flexibility. Bertie Armstrong, the chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, said the agreement was “a practical plan that would work for the fishing industry”. “We are pleased that a more realistic timescale for the implementation of a discards plan was agreed,” he said.

Maria Damanaki, the European commissioner for fisheries, said that the negotiations had been “difficult” but the Commission “respects” the agreement.

Negotiations with MEPs will begin in the next few weeks. Ireland, which holds the presidency of the Council of Ministers, hopes to reach a final agreement by July.